Foundation garment



INVENTOR March 5, 1935. M. KAHN FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed- Nov. 16, 1933 77Zaxlzh71/ BY y I l j ATToRNEYs "ma l I III Patented Mar. 5,

UNITED sfrpxllizsl PATENTv ortis Application November 16, 1933, Serial No. 698,335 6 claims. (cl. 2-37) This invention relates to foundation garments tion 3.` The upper section 2 is principally made and has for an object `to provide an improved from inelastic material and will `not stretch subconstruction which will snugly fit and mold the stantially in any direction. Section 3 of panel l body of the wearer 'while presenting means is adapted to stretch freely circumferentially 5 whereby the garment may be readily removed but not longitudinally of the garment. Con- 5 without injuring the stays or other parts thereof. nected to panel l by the seams 4 and 5 are front Another object of the invention is to provide side panels 6 and'7 which are stretchable circuman improved foundation garment adapted to exferentially but substantially nonstretchable lontend from substantially the waistline downwardgitudinally. At the rear (Fig. 3) the rear panel 10 ly over the hips, and wherein the panels are so 8 is formed with an upper section 9 and a lower 10 formed that elastic zones are presented which section 10, the lower section being freelystretchwill stretch circumferentially and other -zonesr able longitudinally of the garment as indicated longitudinally of the garment, with the connectby the arrow 11, but substantially nonstretchable ing edges formed so that they will stretch loncircumferentially.

gitudinally. The reverse is true of section 9, which is l5 A still further object of the invention is to stretchable circumferentially of the garment but provide a foundation garment adapted to extend ,substantially nonstretchable longitudinally of from the Waistline downwardly, the structure inthe garment- Stienng POCketS 12 and 13 are cluding a disengageable stiffening panel at the arranged in section 9 and extend diagonally front with elastic panels forming the body of the from the respective ends of the seam 14 which go garment, whereby when the disengageable panel connects the sections 9 and 10. Stiiening memhas been disengaged the other panels may Lbe bers are preferably arranged in these pockets rolled ,readily so as to move the garment downand give the desired support without in any way wardly over the hips without mutilating or in preventing the stretching action circumferenany way injuring the stiffening panel. tially of the garment. Seam 14 is made in a gli In the accompanying drawingfslight V so as `to be diagonal in respect to both Figure 1 isa perspective view of a foundation sections.9 and 10, whereby the 610th 210mg th garment disclosing an embodiment of the invenseam will stretch circumferentially both above tion, the same being shown on a figure; and below the seam for a short distance.

` Figure 2A is a view similar to Figure 1 but The seams 15 and 16 connect the respective 30.

showing the garment partly removed and illusrear side panels 17 and 18 with the rear panel 8, trating how the same may be rolled during the there being two rear side panels and two front removing action; l side panels. All the side panels are stretchable Figure 3 is a rear view of the foundation garfreely circumferentially of the garment but subment shown in Figure 1, the same being illusstantially non-stretchable longitudinally. Hows 35 trated on a figure; ever, the seams 15 and 16 are stretchable by rea- Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view son of the construction of the parts. This conpartly in section illustrating how the reinforcstruction is shown more in detail in Fig. 8 from ing panel or4 shield is connected in place; v which it will be seen that the rear side panel 18 Figure' 5 is a view from inside of the front of is rounded at the respective points 19, 20, 21 and 40 the garment, the same illustrating the position 22. The rear panel 8 iS alSO rounded at DOIIS and arrangement of the protecting shield or 23 and 24. The opposite edge of the rear panel panel; is formed in a similar mannery so that the de- Figure 6 is a sectional view through Figure 5 scription and showing in Fig. 8 will refer to both on the line 6 6; edges. It will be understood that when the seam 45 Figure '7 is aperspective sectional View through '16 is formed, the edges 19 and23 are brought Figure 5 on the line 77, the same being on an together, and in a similar way the edges 21 and enlarged scale; l i 24 are brought together,y and then stitching ap- Figure 8 is a plan view o f part of the rear plied. By reason of the fact that the edges when panel shown in Figure 3, together with two of secured together will be somewhat on the bias, 50 the side panels, illustrating how the panels are stretching of the sections longitudinally of the cut so as to allow elasticity along the seams. garment near the seam wi11 be permitted.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by The same is true for the entire panel so that numerals, 1 indicates the front panel which is the respective seams 15 and 16 may stretch londivided into the upper section 2 and lower secgitudinally, thus permitting the rear section 17 55 to freely function. If the parts were not made as shown in Fig. 8 the rear panel 8 could not function freely along or adjacent the seams, because it would be held against longitudinal stretching by the fact that the panel 8 would not stretch longitudinally. However, by making tle adjacent edges curved there is a diagonal positioning of the fabric which will allow ample stretching along the respective seams and 16 to permit the entire panel 10 to-function freely so as to take care of any bending action of the person wearing the garment. The stretching of section 9 in the rear panel circumferentially is very important as it augments the stretching of the front and rear side panels, so that the garment may be pulled over the feet and hips and to the proper position as shown in Fig. 1. The stretching of the waistline part of the garment, namely, the upper edge, must be sufficient to allow it to pass over the hips. Also, the parts must be arranged so that after passing over the hips it will contract sufficiently to snugly t and support the body at the waistline. This is necessary and at the same time it is desirable that section l0 of panel 8 be stretched longitudinally along with the seams 15 and 16 so that the wearer of the garment may readily sit down or bend without the garment riding up.

In addition to the parts just described it is desirable to have a stiifening and reinforcing structure at the front. Where stiifening and reinforcing steels or other members are used at the front, a side opening must usually be provided in order that the garment may be slid over the hips as it is applied and removed. In the present invention this is not necessary as the garment may be formed as just described and read'- -ily moved over the hips when being applied or removed, and when in place properly supporting not only the hips and lower part of the body but also the body at and adjacent the waistline. However, to provide additional stiffening at the front an auxiliary stiffening panel or shield 25 is provided. This shield or panel is preferably stitched to the section 2 by the line of stitching 26. Aside from the line of stitching 26 the panel or shield 25 is free of the remainder of the garment. Disengageable fastening means 27 are provided for disengageably connecting the upper edge of the panel or shield to the upper edge of section 2 of panel 1. The shield 25 is provided with any desired number of reinforcing steels 28 arranged in suitable pockets 29. This provides a desired support directly at the front where the body has a tendency to bulge out slightly. 1f the shield 25 was stitched or fastened rmly on all sides to section 2 of panel 1 and the garment could not be readily applied or removed, because it could not be rolled as indicated in Fig. 2. When the garment is in place, as shown in Fig. 1, and it is desired to remove the same, the snapfasteners 27 are disengaged and then the upper edge of the garment rolled once or more times and gradually pushed over the hips, the shield 25 remaining straight and therefore uninjured. If the steels 28 were rolled along with the remaining part of the garment they would break or become so bent as to be unusable. In this way a desired stiffening shield may be utilized while at the same time presenting a garment. which may be rolled at the upper part to be readily applied or removed.

I claim:-

1. A foundation garment comprising a body formed with elastic members, said body being of greater diameter at the center than at each end, the upper end being of a diameter to normally fit snugly the waistline of the person wearing the garment and stretchable sufficiently to pass over the hips, said upper part of the garment being capable of being rolled downwardly when the garment is being removed, and a reinforcing shield at the center of the front, said shield being connected to the front of the body at a point spaced downwardly from the upper edge, disengageable fastening means for securing the upper edge of the shield to the upper edge portion of the body, and stiifening means carried by said shield, the disengagement of the shield at the upper part from the body permitting the body to be rolled downwardly without bending the shield, whereby the body may be readily removed from the person wearing the garment.

2. A foundation garment comprising a body elastic substantially throughout with a substantially inelastic section at the upper part of the front, and a reinforcing and bracing shield arranged interiorly of the front, means connecting the lower edge of the shield to the body at a point spaced downwardly from the upper edge of the body, and disengageable securing means for connecting the upper edge portion of the shield to the upper edge portion of the body, and stiffening stays carried by said shield, said disengageable fastening means adapted to be disengaged before the upper portion of the garment is rolled for re moving the garment.

3. A foundation garment comprising a body shaped so that the top and bottom will be of substantially the same diameter, said body at the front having an inelastic panel extending from the top downwardly, and a circumferentially stretchable elastic section extending from the bottom of the body to the lower edge of the first mentioned section, a bracing and stiifening shield arranged interiorly of the front panel, means for securing the shield to the front panel at a distance below the upper edge of the front panel, disengageable means for securing the upper edge portion of the shield to the upper edge portion of the front panel, a pair of circumferentially elastic members forming each side of said body, two of said members being connected to said front panel, and a pair of rear side sections connected to the other two front elastic sections, and a rear panel connected to the rear side sections, said rear panel having an upper portion formed of resilient material stretchable circumferentially of the garment, and a lower portion extending from the bottom of the rst mentioned portion to the bottom of the garment and stretchable longitudinally of the body but not circumferentially thereof, whereby the body of the person wearing the garment may readily bend back and forth, forwardly and rearwardly freely while having a comparatively stiff front support.

4. A foundation garment comprising a body having a front panel with an upper section extending from the top downwardly, and a circumferentially stretchable section extending from the top section downwardly to the bottom edge of the garment, a reinforcing shield arranged interiorly of the first mentioned section to stiffen the same and brace the body, means for connecting said reinforcing section at the lower edge permanently to said body at a distance spaced downwardly from the upper edge of the body, disengageable fastening means for connecting the upper edge portion of the reinforcing member to the upper edge portion of the body, a pair of circumferentially elastic members forming each side of the body, two of said side members being connected to said front panel, and a. rear panel connected to the other two side elastic sections,

i said rear panel having an upper section occupying substantially one-third of the rear panel, said section being arranged at the top of the rear panel and stretchable circumferentially of the garment, anda lower section extending from the first mentioned section to the bottom of the garment and stretchable longitudinally of said body, whereby the body of the person wearing the foundation garment may readily bend back and forth and forwardly and rearwardly freely while having a comparatively stiff front support, said body at the upper portion being capable of being rolled during the removal of the garment after said dsengageable fastening means have been disengaged.

5. A foundation garment including a body having a front panel, a rear panel stretchable and elastic substantially longitudinally but substantially unstretchable circumferentially of the garment and a side panel structure forming the respective sides of the garment and elastic and stretchable circumferentially but substantially unstretchable longitudinally of the garment so that the hips are resiliently confined while the front of the body of the person is supported and the rear of the body of the person is permitted free movement Without shifting of the garment, means for connecting the adjacent edges of the panels together, the edges of the rear paneland the adjacently connected edges of the side panel structure being cut along curved lines, the curved lines extending from an intermediate portion of the edges towards the ends thereof so that the edges are connected on the bias and the connected edges between the rear panel and the side panel structure will be stretchable longitudinally of the garment.

6. A foundation garment including a body having a 'front panel, a rear panel stretchable one Way and substantially longitudinally but substantially unstretchable circumferentially of the gan ment and a side panel structure forming the respective sides of the garment and stretchable one way circumferentially but substantially unstretchable longitudinally of the garment. means for connecting the adjacent edges ofv the panels together, the edges of the rear panel and the adjacently connected edges of the side panel structure being cut along lines which curve from the intermediate portions of the edges towards the ends thereof, the cutting of the edges along the curved lines providing bias cuts of the material along said curved portions so that the material along the connected edges will be stretchable longitudinally of the garment.

MAX KAHN. 

